Love this! I was vegetarian most of my life, switched to vegan about 14 years ago, and now trying very hard to eat seasonally, I live in Sweden, so yeah, alot of cabbage and potatoes this time of year. I have given up on avocados (either from Columbia or Israel and I am also boycotting everything from Israel and companies that support them). I am very envious of all that canning!! I need to learn to do that! Great article, thank you!
This is so interesting and I will bounce off the vegetarian comments of this thread, since it piqued my interest. I would love to understand more about why a vegetarian diet potentially has three times the footprint. Is it based on location? I could understand this being the case in the US, where it's difficult to trace where your food is coming from and where even seasonality becomes tricky. But for example, in Europe, in our small French town where we split our time, we literally buy most of our groceries from the weekly market, where are egg vendor comes from a couple kilometers away. Our cheese monger is selective with products that he sells, though I get that they can come from across all of France.
Anyway, interested in more insight on this point!
And love the focus on seasonality which is extremely important.
If trump (whose name does not deserve a capital letter) kicks out the migrant labor without proper papers (or perhaps even if they do have them) no one will be eating California strawberries. In fact, we will have no meat, no chicken, and perhaps no other vegetables. They all depend on migrant and/or illegal labor. trump is a fool, and Stephen Miller (also not deserving of capitals - but no sense getting carried away) is just plain evil. I suggest that you are completely correct in avoiding American products. The best way to defeat the orange menace is tanking the economy, and he will do that without much help, but a little push from the opposition inside and outside our country won't hurt. Eat well, stay warm, and if possible, stop burning fossil fuels.
So you're OK with exploitive labor of illegal immigrants to have cheap food on the table, while condemning those same illegals to economic slavery whilst also increasing your tax burden to pay for their illegal asses?
Right, got it. 👌 Projecting your own racism and immorality onto Trump just so you won't have to be inconvenienced is NOT morally or ethically superior, FYI.
No, you misread me badly. I favor paying them better and having them here legally, providing a more fair and just immigration system. I also favor local food if possible, and foreign policies that allow these people to have lives where they now live free from violence. Let us not create conditions in their home countries that force them to try and escape the violence, often committed using guns imported illegally from gun stores in the US. Working for justice in the food system is part of what I do. Right now it is not just, working conditions are atrocious. It just so happens that for many of those who work in our local chicken processing plants, conditions are even worse in the places they originated. Tossing them back to their home countries, for many of them, will result in their death. Let them chose where to be, but treat them humanely if they chose to be here. Am I being racist or ethically superior in this argument? Assess our recently inaugurated president based on his statements and deeds and you will find where the problem lies.
>>"Let us not create conditions in their home countries that force them to try and escape the violence"
Sorry, but that's not our responsibility to impose our socioeconomic norms on other countries, especially when we've been accused of imperialism and colonialism when we've tried doing just that in recent decades.
*WE* don't create conditions in their home countries; *THEY* do. It's like saying that because my alcoholic neighbor couldn't control himself from jumping the fence and stealing my steak I was grilling outside because he was hungry. If he didn't waste his money on booze, he'd have had food of his own. I do not owe him a free meal, nor should I simply turn a blind eye and allow him to invite his friends along the next time I grill out.
>>"It just so happens that for many of those who work in our local chicken processing plants, conditions are even worse in the places they originated."
They are free to return home to their own country or even another country if working conditions are worse here than they were in their native country. Again, IT'S NOT OUR RESPONSIBILITY to fix THEIR socioeconomic malaise because it results in an exploitation of them HERE and condemns them to a life of economic slavery—and economic slavery is still slavery but without the shackles.
>>"Let them chose where to be, but treat them humanely if they chose to be here."
We cannot be the dumping ground for the world's poor and disadvantaged, period. Forty million people from the world over apply EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. to come to the U.S. through legitimate immigration means. We as America take in MORE immigrants annually than any other nation on the planet. We also have no restrictions; every other nation has minimum requirements and strict enforcement. Why is it that America can't do the same? Do we not value our own citizens more than those who may or may not be vetted?
>>>>>>"It just so happens that for many of those who work in our local chicken processing plants, conditions are even worse in the places they originated."
>>"They are free to return home to their own country or even another country if working conditions are worse here than they were in their native country"
You point out one of the large differences between folks like me and you and those who disagree with us: notions about the Status Quo.
They seem to believe, like the Middle Ages European mores, that one is cast into a given class and can never rise to better (ditto the old Indian caste system but that's another topic). Once placed, never moved.
It seems that Wayne (and others here) never seem to have the thought of "oh, they can move to other employers for better wages and working conditions". They have the nuance that these folks can NEVER better themselves and must be saved by "Others" like themselves. Sorry, that removes all agency from these workers, both illegal aliens AND native/naturalized citizens.
We, however, do believe that one can make more of their lives in the future than they have in the present.
Which is the better outlook, and which shows pride in what America can offer? True, nothing is guaranteed but Opportunity exists for those that reach for that Brass Ring (am I dating myself with that reference?).
>>"It seems that Wayne (and others here) never seem to have the thought of "oh, they can move to other employers for better wages and working conditions"."
They might be able to better climb the socioeconomic ladder if they (a) spoke the language of America (and business the world over, I might add) and (b) had more employable skills. Assimilation, or at least the desire to fully assimilate and become a US citizen as quickly as possible, is another condition that would help them. But the vast majority simply want to earn money and send a chunk of it home as remittances. There's no buy-in from them to better themselves, or this country, just take what they can get and hope the citizenry ignores them.
Worse, the NGO's and liberal pundits who would enable such thievery actively condone that behavior. No wonder the country is as broken as it is.
"Let us not create conditions in their home countries that force them to try and escape the violence"
Much of the conditions they face is due to both poor government and corruption.
Look at Argentina with new President Milie turning both government and their economy around. While his time in office has been short, and there has been a lot of dislocation, poverty is now going down, inflation is REALLY going down, regulations have been slashed freeing up its economic engine, and for the first time in 14 years, is running a budget surplus. It is still a work in progress and nothing is ever certain but it is having positive effects as his popularity is rising.
We are not responsible for those countries - let those you talk about accomplish the same in their home countries.
"if they chose to be here" - they get to choose, sure - but they must follow our laws - come here LEGALLY! We already have seen, these past few years at the Federal and State levels, what happens when our Rule of Law is discarded. If you don't like it, work to change it and not ignore it.
>>"We are not responsible for those countries - let those you talk about accomplish the same in their home countries."
Amen. I fail to see any valid argument made by members of the pro-immigration movement who believe responsibility of improving the socioeconomic conditions in immigrants' native countries is the exclusive domain of their respective governments, not ours.
As far as corrupt governments and corruption in general, well, that's endemic to Central and South American nations—always has been and I suspect always will be. If immigrants come to this country illegally and expect to be seen by U.S. citizens as equals compared to those who did so using legal channels, they're essentially saying they believe corruption is necessary and to be normalized.
No society can survive when the rule of law is ignored.
Well said. In the documentary "The Second Cooler" geographer, Joseph Nevins, states, "We can't have a global political economy that helps drive people from their homelands and then deny them the right to come to places where they're able to achieve the livelihoods that have been denied to them in large part because of our actions. The only way we can do that is by being morally corrupt and that's what the system of global apartheid is. It’s morally corrupt."
I’m not accusing you of being that ignorant but judging by the comments under the video of Colombian migrant Margelis Tinoco crying after her CBP One appointment was canceled at the Paso del Norte international bridge in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, most people didn’t seem to get that she was using this mobile app to enter the United States legally (as were the thousands of others whose appointments were cancelled on Monday). “Nobody is saying they can't come here to the US”…well, that would be a surprise to Stephen Miller.
What's criminal is how the Biden administration and Mayorkas deployed a mobile app to literally open the floodgates for 7+ million illegals to enter the country under the premise they'd be stupid enough to show up for an immigration hearing 12 years from now.
Margelis Tinoco is one of 40+ million foreigners who petition the US government to come to this country every year. Not everyone can be a winner; a lot of the time, we do things not for ourselves but for our children or our children's children—plant a tree under whose shade we know we will not lie, for example. It may be that she's going to have to wait a lot longer for her second chance … but her misfortune absolutely does not excuse the bullshit free-for-all mob rush of the past four years.
I saw that. Sorry that she got wronged by the previous administration using an app that gave her hope that wasn't warranted but that WAS her (and others like her) choice to risk joining in that gaming of our system.
Elections matter and this one mattered quite a bit. But Trump TOLD folks what would happen if elected and now we are seeing that, unlike almost all other politicians, he's keeping his word and promises.
Maybe, just maybe, if Margelis had followed our legal path for entry (and like many here, I have friends who have done it the RIGHT way), she wouldn't have had this disappointment.
Yes, the border is being closed. It is now time for either 1) those that are illegally here to be returned back or 2) those that are here legally to start the process of assimulating and adopting our mores and norms.
And that is Stephen Miller's point. Disagree with me on that? Proof please.
Well, nice of you to let us know where you stand politically. Noted.
And that you are not in favor of one of our Republic's main Pillars: that of the Rule of Law? There is a reason why "illegal alien" is a legal term - someone that has broken our Law AND is subject to the jurisdiction of another country (Let's see if you get the reference on that one).
And there is no way that you can prove your impossibility: "In fact, we will have no meat, no chicken, and perhaps no other vegetables." That's just rage talking, IMHO. You've also forgotten that automation has been killing off those field jobs for a long time and that pace is rapidly increasing, lowering the need (and accompanying labor price) of the labor needed for harvest.
I also remember what happened during Trump's last term when the Feds raided some of the meat packing factories after being tipped off by the town's natives complaining that illegals had taken their jobs. They were arrested and then to fulfill their contracts, the packing house had to re-hire the locals - who got higher hourly wages. Supply and demand, my friend, made that happen, so it works both ways.
>> The best way to defeat the orange menace is tanking the economy
And thus far, in his three day Presidency, he has announced almost $750 Billion (American, not the now devalued Canadian dollar) of investment into America. That's hardly shabby and that's just the tip of the ice burg.
I also can't figure out how to logically assess your two suppositions 1) tank the economy while doing so, 2) our country won't hurt. They seem SO incompatible when put together as you did.
I'm also curious why you think Miller is "plain evil" but I doubt Lloyd, even with writing this very political post (and I haven't attacked YOUR leader at all, eh?), would allow us to continue this here. However, I would be quite fine having this debate over at GraniteGrok. Up to the challenge? And you're also welcome, Lloyd!
Setting up a tariff is certainly a political action. Responding to a political action can either be strictly a political one or a military one (which is the result of a different political action).
What you are showing is that your understanding of what a tariff can be is rather limited; it isn't about merely money.
It's the domain of partisan gaslighting and identity politics. Personally I welcome any automation advances that would minimize the need for low skill immigrant labor where they're exploited by human smuggling cartels and unscrupulous employers as it's a tedious, repetitive, and dangerous job ripe for automation to improve.
>>"The best way to defeat the orange menace is tanking the economy"
Do you not find it comical that the progressive mindset regarding the election is of a petulant, undisciplined child's? "I didn't get my way, so I'm going to smash the bat and throw the ball into a lake!" So puerile, so maligned. Cut off the nose to spite the face, really.
I am not afraid of a debate, as long as it happens in good faith, without name-calling or accusations. I will respond here first to your initial point, a point also made to Martin Luther King by the mayor of Birmingham in 1963. The mayor accused King of violating the law that required a permit to march, which the mayor denied, but they marched anyway, against the vile nature of segregation widely practiced in that city. If the law is considered wrong, work to change it, but at times that requires going against the law to expose your protest. Sometimes laws are violated because the are so onerous you have no choice. Sometimes laws are violated because they are so poorly written and obscure that you don't even know you are violating them. Sometimes laws are written to oppress. Should we not protest these laws, even if protest itself is illegal? Communism would not have fallen if everyone obeyed the law.
As to Miller, he is the one trying to make the laws I consider evil because they break a very simple directive, "Love your neighbor as yourself." It happens that some of these "illegals" are my neighbors.
Well, then - already game over as you did do just that.
>> "Stephen Miller...is just plain evil"
Frankly, I think your rationale of "Love your neighbor as yourself" is a bit self serving in this case to call someone "evil". You make the nuance that you love your illegal alien (a legal term of art encased in US Law) neighbors so breaking such laws against that action should be null and void, of no consequence at all?
And that Miller, in attempts to "faithfully execute the law" (THE purpose of the Executive Branch, of which Miller is now a part of - Article 2 of the US Constitution) is evil for simply following the Constitution? Is the Constitution now evil as well (to go ad absurdum)?
Let's change it up again with your assertion and no law should ever break your LYNAY supposition. What about a pedophile living next door to a family with small children? Are the laws against pedophilia also now of no account due to your diktat?
And no, it is not an extreme example - it is a concrete one that demonstrates that your reason for open borders is not one that stands muster nor stands beyond criticism.
I am not sure that this "debate" is worth my time. Perhaps the term "evil" was out of line, but I don't think your counter point involving a pedophile next door is helpful. Extremes don't justify a rule that expels the innocent. That's all for now.
It was out of line but you went there as an example of "extreme" and to catch attention. Which leads to the next:
>> Extremes don't justify a rule that expels the innocent
First, they aren't innocent - they broke the Law.
And as far as my "extreme", well, you set the Rule - I just played by it. It is a common ploy that I see from those that are Leftward - concentrate on the fringe cases to deny and discredit the rule of the common and mainstream cases brought up by the Rightward.
My example was crafted to demonstrate the absurdity of your holding that our laws for legal pathway to entry into the US can be broken "for love".
Sure, one can break a law "for love" but that doesn't, in any manner, remove facing the consequences for doing so.
Your argument totally dismisses such consequences. The end result is the question: "Why bother having Law when it can be broken with impunity?"
"...kicks out the migrant labor without proper papers (or perhaps even if they do have them) no one will be eating California strawberries."
One can tell why people are so confused about this topic. Migrant labor? Who said anything about migrant labor. Right now the US is going after murderers, rapists, gangs, and etc. And you have a problem with that, why? Are you sure you think President Trump is a "fool"?
I once owned a house in Nova Scotia. One of my neighbors pointed out a small plot of land that had been his family's vegetable garden -- and primary source of sustenance -- during the Depression. Eating local is an excellent idea and arguably better for people's health than the highly processed packaged foods that burden the shelves at our local markets.
In the larger view, what we are experiencing is the door slamming shut on the neoliberal dream of globalization. It will take a few decades for the echoes of that experiment to fade while we try to figure out what is next.
When it comes to being green, the focus is mostly on cars…you know the drill: buy electric vehicles, ride a bike, take the bus, etc. But it seems that there isn’t as much focus on diet, at least in the USA.
I’m a bit confused. There are so many factors at play here. We need to choose our goals at any particular time. As a Canadian, am always proCanada, but am generally not anti other economies unless they are doing something I abhor, because why? I mean I want other countries to buy Canadian too! Local is very good, but is not everything. Anyway, at the level of food purchasing, I am presently focusing on avoiding American imports, which is not at all difficult since produce is available from many many other countries, not least of which is Mexico. Actually there were no American oranges available at my last shop, but there were oranges from about 6 different countries. And it’s always better to eat oranges than to drink juice. Very very few people will stick to only Canadian food in the depths of winter, we must be realistic, but that doesn’t mean we can’t and won’t avoid American.
Fall before last, the wife and I vacationed for about 2 weeks in Newfoundland, where we were an oddity as American tourists. Actually did not exchange words withe another American after we departed Montreal for St. John’s. What off-island tourists we ran across were either from the other maritime provinces or greater Toronto or Montreal. We discovered something known from the time of the vikings in NL, cloudberries, today better known as bakeapples. So good. We can’t grow them here in central California even though we are America’s berry kings. Celebrate the best of Canada, and feel free to boast espacially if it hurts MAGA feelings.
I support trying to eat locally and boycotting American goods. I try hard to eat seasonally. I also put food by, by drying, canning, and pickling. However, coffee, tea, citrus and many cooking basics cannot be grown in Northern climates with short growing seasons. That being said, I have managed to grow citrus, herbs and greens under lights and have produced an astonishing quantity of food for our small household at a fraction of the cost of purchasing these food items in the store, even accounting for electricity and water. Our winter diet also features lots of sprouts. There are Canadian hydroponic systems that can expand the growing season. The initial upfront cost is high for people on limited incomes; but the savings in the cost of food add up and they make gardening indoors easy and fun.
Will get back to you with some comments .. haha ! I shoot most of the stuff we eat at home & will shoot cookbooks & recipes - utensils & plateware, crops ‘in situ - Am unclear re your consumption of seafood .. Yes ? No ? Poultry ? I grew up near Mennonite country - southwestern Ontario & attended University of Guelph (majoring in Basketball & Football haha) but we live in mid-town Toronto 10 minute walk from ‘the Danforth.
I’ve an unusual background in Maximum Security & Drug Addiction and apologies re this ‘Political Note.. but it was Stephen Harper & his cabin boy Pierre Poilievre who immediately defunded Prison Farming as well as defunded & trashed ‘The Small Lakes Experimental Research Centre - was Justin Trudeau who immediately Restored both
so get back to me.. anytime re Fiddlehead Greens why dontcha.. & Lake Erie Perch ! YES re fresh Ontario asparagus & sweet corn ! .. ‘the salamanders have spoken ! 🦎🏴☠️🍁
After Colombia backed down from not accepting illegal migrants, the White House said, "President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty." Canadians better do the same. It's no time to play nice with Trump's America. Buy Canadian is a small part of what's required here. Never surrender.
Another good reason to cut out the orange juice in the photo would be to avoid drinking microplastics and endocrine disrupting chemicals that leach from the plastic to the acidic juice which pulls them out. Not to mention disposing the plastic container.
I'm still a bit skeptical about the current figures for carbon emissions and food. Not sure how accurate these are. Would need to see the studies.
I find Trump's attack on Canada and talk of tariffs to be embarrassing, inexplicable and very ill advised. The last spate of tariff wars the US engaged in was seen by economists as a major contributor to the Great Depression. This will not end well for us. I can only say I’m sorry. You have the right to chose not to buy American. No one is obligated to use our products or drink our orange juice.
I stopped ordering from Amazon long ago. They were selling my stuff and not paying me. With Besos' endorsement of Trump, it might be time for a lot of folks to give up on Amazon.
Love this! I was vegetarian most of my life, switched to vegan about 14 years ago, and now trying very hard to eat seasonally, I live in Sweden, so yeah, alot of cabbage and potatoes this time of year. I have given up on avocados (either from Columbia or Israel and I am also boycotting everything from Israel and companies that support them). I am very envious of all that canning!! I need to learn to do that! Great article, thank you!
This is so interesting and I will bounce off the vegetarian comments of this thread, since it piqued my interest. I would love to understand more about why a vegetarian diet potentially has three times the footprint. Is it based on location? I could understand this being the case in the US, where it's difficult to trace where your food is coming from and where even seasonality becomes tricky. But for example, in Europe, in our small French town where we split our time, we literally buy most of our groceries from the weekly market, where are egg vendor comes from a couple kilometers away. Our cheese monger is selective with products that he sells, though I get that they can come from across all of France.
Anyway, interested in more insight on this point!
And love the focus on seasonality which is extremely important.
If trump (whose name does not deserve a capital letter) kicks out the migrant labor without proper papers (or perhaps even if they do have them) no one will be eating California strawberries. In fact, we will have no meat, no chicken, and perhaps no other vegetables. They all depend on migrant and/or illegal labor. trump is a fool, and Stephen Miller (also not deserving of capitals - but no sense getting carried away) is just plain evil. I suggest that you are completely correct in avoiding American products. The best way to defeat the orange menace is tanking the economy, and he will do that without much help, but a little push from the opposition inside and outside our country won't hurt. Eat well, stay warm, and if possible, stop burning fossil fuels.
So you're OK with exploitive labor of illegal immigrants to have cheap food on the table, while condemning those same illegals to economic slavery whilst also increasing your tax burden to pay for their illegal asses?
Right, got it. 👌 Projecting your own racism and immorality onto Trump just so you won't have to be inconvenienced is NOT morally or ethically superior, FYI.
No, you misread me badly. I favor paying them better and having them here legally, providing a more fair and just immigration system. I also favor local food if possible, and foreign policies that allow these people to have lives where they now live free from violence. Let us not create conditions in their home countries that force them to try and escape the violence, often committed using guns imported illegally from gun stores in the US. Working for justice in the food system is part of what I do. Right now it is not just, working conditions are atrocious. It just so happens that for many of those who work in our local chicken processing plants, conditions are even worse in the places they originated. Tossing them back to their home countries, for many of them, will result in their death. Let them chose where to be, but treat them humanely if they chose to be here. Am I being racist or ethically superior in this argument? Assess our recently inaugurated president based on his statements and deeds and you will find where the problem lies.
Remember the good old days when people would fight for their freedoms? Probably not, most people never learn real history now a days.
>>"Let us not create conditions in their home countries that force them to try and escape the violence"
Sorry, but that's not our responsibility to impose our socioeconomic norms on other countries, especially when we've been accused of imperialism and colonialism when we've tried doing just that in recent decades.
*WE* don't create conditions in their home countries; *THEY* do. It's like saying that because my alcoholic neighbor couldn't control himself from jumping the fence and stealing my steak I was grilling outside because he was hungry. If he didn't waste his money on booze, he'd have had food of his own. I do not owe him a free meal, nor should I simply turn a blind eye and allow him to invite his friends along the next time I grill out.
>>"It just so happens that for many of those who work in our local chicken processing plants, conditions are even worse in the places they originated."
They are free to return home to their own country or even another country if working conditions are worse here than they were in their native country. Again, IT'S NOT OUR RESPONSIBILITY to fix THEIR socioeconomic malaise because it results in an exploitation of them HERE and condemns them to a life of economic slavery—and economic slavery is still slavery but without the shackles.
>>"Let them chose where to be, but treat them humanely if they chose to be here."
We cannot be the dumping ground for the world's poor and disadvantaged, period. Forty million people from the world over apply EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. to come to the U.S. through legitimate immigration means. We as America take in MORE immigrants annually than any other nation on the planet. We also have no restrictions; every other nation has minimum requirements and strict enforcement. Why is it that America can't do the same? Do we not value our own citizens more than those who may or may not be vetted?
>>>>>>"It just so happens that for many of those who work in our local chicken processing plants, conditions are even worse in the places they originated."
>>"They are free to return home to their own country or even another country if working conditions are worse here than they were in their native country"
You point out one of the large differences between folks like me and you and those who disagree with us: notions about the Status Quo.
They seem to believe, like the Middle Ages European mores, that one is cast into a given class and can never rise to better (ditto the old Indian caste system but that's another topic). Once placed, never moved.
It seems that Wayne (and others here) never seem to have the thought of "oh, they can move to other employers for better wages and working conditions". They have the nuance that these folks can NEVER better themselves and must be saved by "Others" like themselves. Sorry, that removes all agency from these workers, both illegal aliens AND native/naturalized citizens.
We, however, do believe that one can make more of their lives in the future than they have in the present.
Which is the better outlook, and which shows pride in what America can offer? True, nothing is guaranteed but Opportunity exists for those that reach for that Brass Ring (am I dating myself with that reference?).
This is not a small difference.
>>"It seems that Wayne (and others here) never seem to have the thought of "oh, they can move to other employers for better wages and working conditions"."
They might be able to better climb the socioeconomic ladder if they (a) spoke the language of America (and business the world over, I might add) and (b) had more employable skills. Assimilation, or at least the desire to fully assimilate and become a US citizen as quickly as possible, is another condition that would help them. But the vast majority simply want to earn money and send a chunk of it home as remittances. There's no buy-in from them to better themselves, or this country, just take what they can get and hope the citizenry ignores them.
Worse, the NGO's and liberal pundits who would enable such thievery actively condone that behavior. No wonder the country is as broken as it is.
"Let us not create conditions in their home countries that force them to try and escape the violence"
Much of the conditions they face is due to both poor government and corruption.
Look at Argentina with new President Milie turning both government and their economy around. While his time in office has been short, and there has been a lot of dislocation, poverty is now going down, inflation is REALLY going down, regulations have been slashed freeing up its economic engine, and for the first time in 14 years, is running a budget surplus. It is still a work in progress and nothing is ever certain but it is having positive effects as his popularity is rising.
We are not responsible for those countries - let those you talk about accomplish the same in their home countries.
"if they chose to be here" - they get to choose, sure - but they must follow our laws - come here LEGALLY! We already have seen, these past few years at the Federal and State levels, what happens when our Rule of Law is discarded. If you don't like it, work to change it and not ignore it.
>>"We are not responsible for those countries - let those you talk about accomplish the same in their home countries."
Amen. I fail to see any valid argument made by members of the pro-immigration movement who believe responsibility of improving the socioeconomic conditions in immigrants' native countries is the exclusive domain of their respective governments, not ours.
As far as corrupt governments and corruption in general, well, that's endemic to Central and South American nations—always has been and I suspect always will be. If immigrants come to this country illegally and expect to be seen by U.S. citizens as equals compared to those who did so using legal channels, they're essentially saying they believe corruption is necessary and to be normalized.
No society can survive when the rule of law is ignored.
Well said. In the documentary "The Second Cooler" geographer, Joseph Nevins, states, "We can't have a global political economy that helps drive people from their homelands and then deny them the right to come to places where they're able to achieve the livelihoods that have been denied to them in large part because of our actions. The only way we can do that is by being morally corrupt and that's what the system of global apartheid is. It’s morally corrupt."
Nobody is saying they can't come here to the US. What IS being said is that you must come here legally by following our Laws.
I’m not accusing you of being that ignorant but judging by the comments under the video of Colombian migrant Margelis Tinoco crying after her CBP One appointment was canceled at the Paso del Norte international bridge in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, most people didn’t seem to get that she was using this mobile app to enter the United States legally (as were the thousands of others whose appointments were cancelled on Monday). “Nobody is saying they can't come here to the US”…well, that would be a surprise to Stephen Miller.
What's criminal is how the Biden administration and Mayorkas deployed a mobile app to literally open the floodgates for 7+ million illegals to enter the country under the premise they'd be stupid enough to show up for an immigration hearing 12 years from now.
Margelis Tinoco is one of 40+ million foreigners who petition the US government to come to this country every year. Not everyone can be a winner; a lot of the time, we do things not for ourselves but for our children or our children's children—plant a tree under whose shade we know we will not lie, for example. It may be that she's going to have to wait a lot longer for her second chance … but her misfortune absolutely does not excuse the bullshit free-for-all mob rush of the past four years.
I saw that. Sorry that she got wronged by the previous administration using an app that gave her hope that wasn't warranted but that WAS her (and others like her) choice to risk joining in that gaming of our system.
Elections matter and this one mattered quite a bit. But Trump TOLD folks what would happen if elected and now we are seeing that, unlike almost all other politicians, he's keeping his word and promises.
Maybe, just maybe, if Margelis had followed our legal path for entry (and like many here, I have friends who have done it the RIGHT way), she wouldn't have had this disappointment.
Yes, the border is being closed. It is now time for either 1) those that are illegally here to be returned back or 2) those that are here legally to start the process of assimulating and adopting our mores and norms.
And that is Stephen Miller's point. Disagree with me on that? Proof please.
Sorry, but no.
A. We do not have a global political economy.
B. We as America are not responsible for developing economies' poor governance and corruption.
C. We as America are not a dumping ground for corrupt ideology and people who refuse to abide by our immigration laws.
Well, nice of you to let us know where you stand politically. Noted.
And that you are not in favor of one of our Republic's main Pillars: that of the Rule of Law? There is a reason why "illegal alien" is a legal term - someone that has broken our Law AND is subject to the jurisdiction of another country (Let's see if you get the reference on that one).
And there is no way that you can prove your impossibility: "In fact, we will have no meat, no chicken, and perhaps no other vegetables." That's just rage talking, IMHO. You've also forgotten that automation has been killing off those field jobs for a long time and that pace is rapidly increasing, lowering the need (and accompanying labor price) of the labor needed for harvest.
I also remember what happened during Trump's last term when the Feds raided some of the meat packing factories after being tipped off by the town's natives complaining that illegals had taken their jobs. They were arrested and then to fulfill their contracts, the packing house had to re-hire the locals - who got higher hourly wages. Supply and demand, my friend, made that happen, so it works both ways.
>> The best way to defeat the orange menace is tanking the economy
And thus far, in his three day Presidency, he has announced almost $750 Billion (American, not the now devalued Canadian dollar) of investment into America. That's hardly shabby and that's just the tip of the ice burg.
I also can't figure out how to logically assess your two suppositions 1) tank the economy while doing so, 2) our country won't hurt. They seem SO incompatible when put together as you did.
I'm also curious why you think Miller is "plain evil" but I doubt Lloyd, even with writing this very political post (and I haven't attacked YOUR leader at all, eh?), would allow us to continue this here. However, I would be quite fine having this debate over at GraniteGrok. Up to the challenge? And you're also welcome, Lloyd!
It is not a political post. We are being threatened and have to respond.
The purpose of the threat is to bring two parties to the negotiating table, that's all.
Stop exporting illegals and drugs and the problem solves itself.
Setting up a tariff is certainly a political action. Responding to a political action can either be strictly a political one or a military one (which is the result of a different political action).
What you are showing is that your understanding of what a tariff can be is rather limited; it isn't about merely money.
>>"That's just rage talking, IMHO."
It's the domain of partisan gaslighting and identity politics. Personally I welcome any automation advances that would minimize the need for low skill immigrant labor where they're exploited by human smuggling cartels and unscrupulous employers as it's a tedious, repetitive, and dangerous job ripe for automation to improve.
>>"The best way to defeat the orange menace is tanking the economy"
Do you not find it comical that the progressive mindset regarding the election is of a petulant, undisciplined child's? "I didn't get my way, so I'm going to smash the bat and throw the ball into a lake!" So puerile, so maligned. Cut off the nose to spite the face, really.
I am not afraid of a debate, as long as it happens in good faith, without name-calling or accusations. I will respond here first to your initial point, a point also made to Martin Luther King by the mayor of Birmingham in 1963. The mayor accused King of violating the law that required a permit to march, which the mayor denied, but they marched anyway, against the vile nature of segregation widely practiced in that city. If the law is considered wrong, work to change it, but at times that requires going against the law to expose your protest. Sometimes laws are violated because the are so onerous you have no choice. Sometimes laws are violated because they are so poorly written and obscure that you don't even know you are violating them. Sometimes laws are written to oppress. Should we not protest these laws, even if protest itself is illegal? Communism would not have fallen if everyone obeyed the law.
As to Miller, he is the one trying to make the laws I consider evil because they break a very simple directive, "Love your neighbor as yourself." It happens that some of these "illegals" are my neighbors.
>> "...without name-calling or accusations"
Well, then - already game over as you did do just that.
>> "Stephen Miller...is just plain evil"
Frankly, I think your rationale of "Love your neighbor as yourself" is a bit self serving in this case to call someone "evil". You make the nuance that you love your illegal alien (a legal term of art encased in US Law) neighbors so breaking such laws against that action should be null and void, of no consequence at all?
And that Miller, in attempts to "faithfully execute the law" (THE purpose of the Executive Branch, of which Miller is now a part of - Article 2 of the US Constitution) is evil for simply following the Constitution? Is the Constitution now evil as well (to go ad absurdum)?
Let's change it up again with your assertion and no law should ever break your LYNAY supposition. What about a pedophile living next door to a family with small children? Are the laws against pedophilia also now of no account due to your diktat?
And no, it is not an extreme example - it is a concrete one that demonstrates that your reason for open borders is not one that stands muster nor stands beyond criticism.
I am not sure that this "debate" is worth my time. Perhaps the term "evil" was out of line, but I don't think your counter point involving a pedophile next door is helpful. Extremes don't justify a rule that expels the innocent. That's all for now.
>> the term "evil" was out of line
It was out of line but you went there as an example of "extreme" and to catch attention. Which leads to the next:
>> Extremes don't justify a rule that expels the innocent
First, they aren't innocent - they broke the Law.
And as far as my "extreme", well, you set the Rule - I just played by it. It is a common ploy that I see from those that are Leftward - concentrate on the fringe cases to deny and discredit the rule of the common and mainstream cases brought up by the Rightward.
My example was crafted to demonstrate the absurdity of your holding that our laws for legal pathway to entry into the US can be broken "for love".
Sure, one can break a law "for love" but that doesn't, in any manner, remove facing the consequences for doing so.
Your argument totally dismisses such consequences. The end result is the question: "Why bother having Law when it can be broken with impunity?"
This is getting all too political for me.
"...kicks out the migrant labor without proper papers (or perhaps even if they do have them) no one will be eating California strawberries."
One can tell why people are so confused about this topic. Migrant labor? Who said anything about migrant labor. Right now the US is going after murderers, rapists, gangs, and etc. And you have a problem with that, why? Are you sure you think President Trump is a "fool"?
I once owned a house in Nova Scotia. One of my neighbors pointed out a small plot of land that had been his family's vegetable garden -- and primary source of sustenance -- during the Depression. Eating local is an excellent idea and arguably better for people's health than the highly processed packaged foods that burden the shelves at our local markets.
In the larger view, what we are experiencing is the door slamming shut on the neoliberal dream of globalization. It will take a few decades for the echoes of that experiment to fade while we try to figure out what is next.
When it comes to being green, the focus is mostly on cars…you know the drill: buy electric vehicles, ride a bike, take the bus, etc. But it seems that there isn’t as much focus on diet, at least in the USA.
I’m a bit confused. There are so many factors at play here. We need to choose our goals at any particular time. As a Canadian, am always proCanada, but am generally not anti other economies unless they are doing something I abhor, because why? I mean I want other countries to buy Canadian too! Local is very good, but is not everything. Anyway, at the level of food purchasing, I am presently focusing on avoiding American imports, which is not at all difficult since produce is available from many many other countries, not least of which is Mexico. Actually there were no American oranges available at my last shop, but there were oranges from about 6 different countries. And it’s always better to eat oranges than to drink juice. Very very few people will stick to only Canadian food in the depths of winter, we must be realistic, but that doesn’t mean we can’t and won’t avoid American.
Lloyd, how about another article a month from now to see how everyone is doing at "buy Canadian".
100 mile diet sounds great if there were exceptions for morning drugs like coffee ;-)
I am amazed what people will do to allow drugs and illegals to go through their own country. At least we know what is important up north.
Fall before last, the wife and I vacationed for about 2 weeks in Newfoundland, where we were an oddity as American tourists. Actually did not exchange words withe another American after we departed Montreal for St. John’s. What off-island tourists we ran across were either from the other maritime provinces or greater Toronto or Montreal. We discovered something known from the time of the vikings in NL, cloudberries, today better known as bakeapples. So good. We can’t grow them here in central California even though we are America’s berry kings. Celebrate the best of Canada, and feel free to boast espacially if it hurts MAGA feelings.
I support trying to eat locally and boycotting American goods. I try hard to eat seasonally. I also put food by, by drying, canning, and pickling. However, coffee, tea, citrus and many cooking basics cannot be grown in Northern climates with short growing seasons. That being said, I have managed to grow citrus, herbs and greens under lights and have produced an astonishing quantity of food for our small household at a fraction of the cost of purchasing these food items in the store, even accounting for electricity and water. Our winter diet also features lots of sprouts. There are Canadian hydroponic systems that can expand the growing season. The initial upfront cost is high for people on limited incomes; but the savings in the cost of food add up and they make gardening indoors easy and fun.
Will get back to you with some comments .. haha ! I shoot most of the stuff we eat at home & will shoot cookbooks & recipes - utensils & plateware, crops ‘in situ - Am unclear re your consumption of seafood .. Yes ? No ? Poultry ? I grew up near Mennonite country - southwestern Ontario & attended University of Guelph (majoring in Basketball & Football haha) but we live in mid-town Toronto 10 minute walk from ‘the Danforth.
I’ve an unusual background in Maximum Security & Drug Addiction and apologies re this ‘Political Note.. but it was Stephen Harper & his cabin boy Pierre Poilievre who immediately defunded Prison Farming as well as defunded & trashed ‘The Small Lakes Experimental Research Centre - was Justin Trudeau who immediately Restored both
so get back to me.. anytime re Fiddlehead Greens why dontcha.. & Lake Erie Perch ! YES re fresh Ontario asparagus & sweet corn ! .. ‘the salamanders have spoken ! 🦎🏴☠️🍁
I’m American and I don’t blame you!
After Colombia backed down from not accepting illegal migrants, the White House said, "President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty." Canadians better do the same. It's no time to play nice with Trump's America. Buy Canadian is a small part of what's required here. Never surrender.
Another good reason to cut out the orange juice in the photo would be to avoid drinking microplastics and endocrine disrupting chemicals that leach from the plastic to the acidic juice which pulls them out. Not to mention disposing the plastic container.
I'm still a bit skeptical about the current figures for carbon emissions and food. Not sure how accurate these are. Would need to see the studies.
I find Trump's attack on Canada and talk of tariffs to be embarrassing, inexplicable and very ill advised. The last spate of tariff wars the US engaged in was seen by economists as a major contributor to the Great Depression. This will not end well for us. I can only say I’m sorry. You have the right to chose not to buy American. No one is obligated to use our products or drink our orange juice.
I stopped ordering from Amazon long ago. They were selling my stuff and not paying me. With Besos' endorsement of Trump, it might be time for a lot of folks to give up on Amazon.